all media content with the same
brush.
What changes are companies
making to reach patients in an
increasingly fragmented media
environment and when more
consumers are cutting the cord
to their cable TV subscriptions?
BERNARD FALKOFF: I see
companies trying to improve their
judgment by focusing on data and/
or the latest analytical tools. But
data are only as useful as the expertise and marketing experience
of the people using them. The best
marketers still see data as a means,
not an end.
RYAN BILLINGS: Part of what
drew me to AMAG Pharmaceuticals was the digital aptitude and
modern media thinking from
our leadership and brand team
members, as well as the incredible
top-down support for digital. At
AMAG, media decisions are truly
based on actual customer behavior.
We know that millennial moms
are highly digitally active, and
—maybe surprisingly—the same
goes for post-menopausal Baby
Boomers. In fact, women over the
age of 45 are the fastest growing
age demographic on Facebook. We
make creative and strategic decisions based on where our customers are, and how and when they
want to engage with us. In prior
organizations most of our budget
was spent on TV and then only a
tiny portion on digital. You really
need to go “all-in,” investing both
mentally and financially in digital
and social—you can’t just dabble
anymore if you want to truly move
the needle.
KIRSTY WHELAN: The average person spends more than two
hours on social media a day now,
which is only a little less than the
time we spend watching TV. The
best experience that brands can
provide patients is being there
with support or information they
need, when they need it and how
they need it. That means looking at
how digital and social can deliver
on the awareness created by television – viewing the marketing mix
as an ecosystem, with each channel playing a role in enhancing the
patient’s journey.
How do companies keep pace (or
better yet, stay ahead) with the
fast-moving changes to technology and media in your field?
KIRSTY WHELAN: The smartest
healthcare brands closely follow
consumer trends in media and
technology consumption because
they lead the trends that we see
play out in healthcare. For exam-
ple, Snapchat made the art of com-
municating with photos and facial
expressions ubiquitous. Over time
Facebook and Instagram evolved
their platforms to promote more
visual sharing. Technology influ-
ences consumer behavior, just as
consumer behavior influences the
development of technology. These
companies recognize that patients
are consumers too, and don’t easily
dismiss emerging media and tech-
nology trends as irrelevant.
BERNARD FALKOFF: The best
way to stay ahead is to involve the
MLR team as early as possible. If
they understand the value, their
“buy-in” can help ensure success
no matter what technology or medium is used.
RYAN BILLINGS: Luckily, at
AMAG, I’m surrounded by smart
and savvy stakeholders across
our digital engagement team as
well as our communications,
and commercial teams. We’ve
implemented an internal Digital
Engagement Blog to share digital
trends and updates that affect our
industry. We also held our first
Digital Innovation Summit last
fall for employees—where we held
panel discussions with local digital
health startups, showed industry
